Should I Buy Posters Online?

It was only a few years ago that there were no online gallery websites to buy poster art from. The internet was in its infancy and e-commerce sites were hardly mainstream. If you wanted to freshen up your home or office you had to visit the local gallery or head down to the high street poster shop (if you were lucky enough to have one). There you were faced with a limited range of framed art prints at inflated prices. Things have changed now though, with many online galleries available on the web so let’s look at the best way to buy wall posters – online or offline?

Something else has changed the way we buy poster prints. With the new digital cameras came a flood of new photographers who could produce nice images for little cost. Without the cost of film and developing they could experiment more and take more photographs. Then they could display them in front of the world on their website or sell them at an online gallery. Suddenly consumers were faced with a massive increase in choice for buying photographic posters on the internet. Perhaps the quality wasn’t there initially for printing purposes (the first digital cameras began with around 1MP resolution which is tiny) but as the file sizes and sensors grew over the years the digital images became fit for purpose and a new age in photographic wall posters dawned.

So is it best to buy online from the many print on demand galleries out there, or should you go to your high street or gallery? Let’s look at the pro’s and con’s of each method.

The great thing about buying art posters online is that you have such a vast range of work to choose from. Online galleries can showcase artwork from artists that live all over the world. They can have thousands of images available to choose from – compare this to a gallery shop in the city. They can also offer to print the poster in a variety of sizes and print finish, such as canvas wall art, framed prints or large posters. As the online galleries don’t have many overheads the artwork can be cheaper too. These days we are seemingly getting busier and busier so it can be beneficial to browse for wall poster pictures online on your iPad or laptop on the sofa. You can then take your time to choose the right piece of poster art.

The downside to buying poster pictures online is that you can’t see the finished print, you are limited to a screen image which may or may not show the image in its final print style ie. boxed canvas print. You also have to be wary of giving your card details out to a company you may not have heard of before. Just be careful and check to see if they have good reviews and have a phone number and contact address.

Unfortunately more and more high street stores are closing down. This means we are seeing even less gallery type shops but some of the big giant home stores now fill this void with cheap wall art prints – places such as Next, Homebase and similar companies. This means you may not be shopping for framed poster art but might walk past some in the store and buy something that catches your eye on the spur of the moment. These are mass printed in places like China so can be well priced, although the quality will not be as good as from a professional gallery print.

The great thing about buying posters in the high street is you can see the artwork in the flesh. You can even pick them up and see how it looks as a large poster picture or in a ready made frame. This is a real bonus to many art buyers although most online galleries will provide a returns policy if you are not satisfied. The downside to this is the inconvenience of having to return the printed poster artwork.

Unless you are sure you want to see the finished poster print in the flesh before you buy the wall art, it seems like buying posters or other print forms on the web is the way to go. Gallery websites have improve markedly over the last few years and they offer a browsing and buying experience which is second to none. Factor in the huge range of imagery you can choose from and the internet wins hands down.